WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Do Animals Laugh?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today I've got a

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<v Speaker 1>classic episode for you from our former host, Christian Sager.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've ever been close with a non human animal,

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<v Speaker 1>you may think it's obvious that they have senses of humor,

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<v Speaker 1>even if most of what they think is funny is

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<v Speaker 1>you know us. But we set out to learn what

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<v Speaker 1>science has to say about it. Have you ever tried

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<v Speaker 1>to tell a joke to an animal. I've done it before,

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<v Speaker 1>I talked to my dogs, whatever. But this this is

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff and I'm Christian Sager. So here's the question.

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<v Speaker 1>Can animals laugh? In some cases this might sound ridiculous.

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<v Speaker 1>There are many different types of laughter, and generally speaking,

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<v Speaker 1>these types fall into two broad categories complex social laughter,

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<v Speaker 1>where you have to know the context or have a

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<v Speaker 1>sense of humor to you know, get it and laugh

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<v Speaker 1>after in response to stimulation like tickling. Some animals, such

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<v Speaker 1>as primates, seem to have a sense of humor, meaning

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<v Speaker 1>they can respond to situations with a pant that sounds

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<v Speaker 1>eerily similar to laughter. You can read numerous stories about

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<v Speaker 1>Coco the gorilla allegedly making jokes in sign language and

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<v Speaker 1>so on. Additionally, when adult animals like dolphins or ravens

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<v Speaker 1>play pranks, they're indicating an understanding of humor. But laughter

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<v Speaker 1>itself seems more common than humans had originally thought. Rats

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<v Speaker 1>have been laughing their furry little keysters off since the

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<v Speaker 1>dawn of recorded history, but we only figured this out

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<v Speaker 1>a few years back. It turns out rats like being tickled,

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<v Speaker 1>and when they're tickled, they chirp at a range too

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<v Speaker 1>high for human ears to pick up. It's around fifty

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<v Speaker 1>kila hurts. We know this thanks to the work of

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<v Speaker 1>Jacques pan Skep and Jeffrey Bergdorff beginning in the late

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<v Speaker 1>nineties at Bowling Green State University. And if we're talking

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<v Speaker 1>about that second category of laughter, a positive vocalization associated

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<v Speaker 1>with touch, then the comedy floodgates may have just swung open.

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<v Speaker 1>Dr de Villa Ross has been gathering as much data

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<v Speaker 1>as possible about the reactions various animals have to being tickled.

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<v Speaker 1>The list of animals that make a vocal reaction when

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<v Speaker 1>tickled include mere cats, camels, dolphins, dogs, owls, penguins, and

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<v Speaker 1>more So. What's the explanation, Well, according to Michael O. Wren,

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<v Speaker 1>an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience from Georgia State University.

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<v Speaker 1>That's my alma mater. The case may be simple, at

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<v Speaker 1>least when applied to mammals. It's just a pleasant feeling

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<v Speaker 1>evoked by touching. Laughter. It seems may well be millions

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<v Speaker 1>of years old and existed before human beings. If you

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<v Speaker 1>think about it, we're sort of late to the joke.

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<v Speaker 1>And to be fair, most scientists aren't calling this straight

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<v Speaker 1>out laughter. Instead, they're suggesting that these positive vocalizations, or,

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<v Speaker 1>as Dr de Villa Ross writes, expressions of joy. And

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<v Speaker 1>when we ask whether laughter is a sign of intelligence,

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<v Speaker 1>Dr pank Step notes that intelligence isn't a requirement for laughter. Instead,

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<v Speaker 1>he suggests maybe we should look at it from another direction.

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<v Speaker 1>Perhaps play in any species can increase social intelligence. As

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<v Speaker 1>research continues, we're learning more and more about animals, laughter,

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<v Speaker 1>and keep. Today's episode was written by Ben Bollin and

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<v Speaker 1>produced by Tyler Clang. To hear more from Ben, check

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<v Speaker 1>out his very funny podcast Ridiculous History, and for more

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<v Speaker 1>on this and lots of other topics, visit how stuffworks

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<v Speaker 1>dot com. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio. For

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